Kite
by Meredith T. Tasaki
Summary: The Shadow Realm has reopened, but what will Yami do now that he knows exactly what price he'd have to pay to reseal it?


AN: Generally, when songfics don't work, it's because you've never heard the song and it's not the same. Since I wrote this fic before I ever heard the song, that won't be a problem. ^^; It actually kinda worked better when I HADN'T heard it. --;  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh or U2's 'Kite', which is (pretty obviously, why else would I say it) the song used here. I don't own cookies or Kuriboh, or the word 'hotaru'--'firefly'. But I think I own my reason for writing these last three sentences. Whatever _that_ is. O_o; Ah yeah, and I'm skipping the last stanza. Doesn't really fit. ^^; Sorry.  
  
~  
  
Something  
Is about to give  
I can feel it coming  
I think I know what it means  
  
~  
  
It was happening again, wasn't it.  
  
It wasn't even a question. He was no fool; he knew the end when he saw it. Like he'd seen it then, like he was seeing now.  
  
The storm was nothing. There were many storms here. No, the sign was something else.  
  
He popped another cookie into the Kuriboh's mouth.  
  
"I didn't know you could do that. It's really cool. I thought you could only do that in the shadow realm," Yugi rambled, brushing another Kuriboh's hair.  
  
"Mm-hmm." Yami had decided not to tell him that he had nothing to do with the Kuribohs' arrival. Then again... In a way, he had everything to do with their arrival. But he hadn't summoned them; no, far from it.  
  
It was happening again.  
  
~  
  
I'm not afraid to die  
I'm not afraid to live  
And when I'm flat on my back  
I hope to feel like I did  
  
~  
  
He sighed to himself. He couldn't wait long. Last time... Last time, a Feral Imp had appeared outside his window two hours after he'd woken up to a Kuriboh on his head. The weakest monsters got out first, somehow...   
  
"Think I should name him? I mean, I know he won't be here for long--will he?"  
  
He just wasn't up to answering that question at the moment. Curse Yugi on caffiene.  
  
"I think I'll name him Hotaru," Yugi said after a few seconds anyway. "What about yours?"  
  
"Well. Why don't you call yours Hota-chan and this one can be Taru." He veiled his sarcasm as heavily as he could.  
  
"Okay!"  
  
He sighed. Why now? Why had Yugi have to get in one of his annoying moods _now_?  
  
//To try to make it easier...//  
  
"...I can't do this anymore. What the heck is going on? Why did you bring two Kuriboh here?"  
  
Yami sighed in relief. "Thank goodness. You were scaring me there."  
  
"Answer the question, please..."  
  
He glanced over at Yugi and couldn't help remembering why he'd regret leaving him behind. Couldn't help remembering that he'd been reluctant last time as well... But what ties did he have then?  
  
//Or is it just that I don't let myself care about anything now?//  
  
~  
And hardness  
It sets in  
You need some protection  
The thinner the skin  
~  
  
But didn't he have a right? After all this, didn't he have a _right_--  
  
"I'm waiting..."  
  
"Sorry. Why did I summon the Kuriboh..." He paused, knowing that he could get away with it for a moment. Yes, he didn't want to leave Yugi behind. And someone had to protect him... Or did they?  
  
"TELL me!"  
  
Yami jumped. "Oh. You want to know the truth? I didn't."   
  
The Kuriboh nudged him. Yami obligingly gave it another cookie. After all... It wouldn't be here for long...   
  
"You didn't? Then how'd they get here?"  
  
Yami said nothing. He didn't want to lie.  
  
Yugi sighed and tossed up his hands. "Great. Don't tell me. Someone's coming after us. Again."  
  
Did he really need protection? Yami mused for a moment. If he didn't, then what would Yami do now?  
  
He got a vivid picture of the end of 'Gone With the Wind'. There was himself, crying 'Where shall I go? What shall I do?' And the universe, saying, 'Frankly, Yuugioh, I couldn't care less.'  
  
And suddenly he realized--Yugi would be perfectly fine without him. He was sweet, and innocent enough, but not quite naive. The world wasn't _that_ cruel these days. Yugi would survive--he'd more than survive, he'd prosper. He'd be perfectly happy... Maybe even... Happier?  
  
"Well, if someone comes after us again, I hope they don't mess up the new curtains. Grandpa would kill us." Yugi laughed.  
  
Yami blinked. Who on earth had he been kidding? How could he even _think_ Yugi couldn't live without him? Yugi would find out anything the world made him, then accept it and move on. He had faith... Some light in him that Yami had almost lost touch with. No, Yugi would be fine in a normal world.  
  
Now it was up to him to create that normal world.  
  
~  
I want you to know  
That you don't need me anymore  
I want you to know  
You don't need anyone  
Or anything at all  
~  
  
"Do _you_ think someone's after us?" Yugi glanced back over at him.  
  
"No."  
  
"Then where did the Kuriboh come from?"  
  
Yami stayed silent, giving Taru-chan another cookie. Taru looked up at him as he nibbled, and Yami knew he knew... And was asking him not to. But what choice did he have?  
  
"I'm sorry," he said quietly. "But they aren't all as peaceful as you... I wish I knew why..."  
  
Taru-chan sighed and grabbed the bag of cookies. Yami couldn't help laughing.  
  
"Hmm?" Yugi looked over again. "Oh lord, he's gonna eat all the cookies..."  
  
"Let him." Yami smiled softly.   
  
//Do you _have_ to?//  
  
To his pride, he only jumped slightly after hearing a monster's voice in his head for the first time in ages. //I know it'll hurt you... And you're not the only one... But you do remember what happened last time? I can't just let that happen _again_... Better that cookies exist _somewhere_ than nowhere at all, even if they aren't where you are.//  
  
Taru-chan reluctantly conceded, holding the bag tight. //You don't have very long.//  
  
//I know.// He glanced over at Yugi. "Better somewhere than nowhere at all..."  
  
//You _really_ don't have long. An hour, at the most, before the angry ones come out. And you've got to perform the ceremony... We don't have long.//  
  
"Did you say something?" Yugi asked, working a tangle out of Hota-chan's fur.  
  
"Mmmmm..." He sighed. Yugi would be fine eventually, but things _would_ happen, and he couldn't protect him...  
  
//This is the only way I can protect him anymore...//  
  
Yugi would be fine... Even if something terrible happened. Yugi had something that even the direst terror couldn't touch for long. Yugi would perservere, and Yugi would be fine. As long as he didn't get involved in any Shadow Games... That was all Yugi really needed him for, and that was the whole point of this... It would be protecting him for the rest of his life...  
  
~  
Who's to say where the wind will take you  
Who's to say what it is will break you  
I don't know  
Which way the wind will blow  
~  
  
//Very soon...//  
  
//Hush, please... I _know_... Fifteen minutes. Let me at least have that.//  
  
//Will the monsters?//  
  
//I think they will.//  
  
"You're scaring me, Yami..."   
  
"Hmm? Why am I scaring you?" Yami asked.  
  
"Just... Something about the way you're acting... Like..."  
  
He sighed. "Almost as if...Something's ending..." Yugi murmured. "It isn't, is it? Is it?"  
  
"No..." he answered, not quite lying.  
  
"It _is_..."  
  
Yami looked away guiltily.  
  
~  
Who's to know when the time has come around  
Don't want to see you cry  
I know that this is not goodbye  
~  
  
"What's happening, Yami? What's happening? Something's happening, I know it, so don't try to lie to me!"  
  
"When have I ever?"  
  
Yugi paused. He couldn't argue that. "What's happening?" he asked, more softly.  
  
"Just history repeating itself, aibou, no need to worry."  
  
"What _kind_ of history?"  
  
"Just the Shadow Realm reopening. Don't worry," he repeated nonchalantly.  
  
"_What_? What do you mean, the Shadow Realm reopening? Wasn't it open already?"  
  
"Only in the most basic way..."  
  
"So what does this mean?"  
  
Yami sighed. That was the question he was hoping Yugi wouldn't ask. "Someone has to close it."  
  
"Why?"  
  
"What does it matter? It's not important."  
  
"Why?" Yugi repeated, more forcefully.  
  
"It isn't--"  
  
"Don't start lying to me _now_!"  
  
"I won't... I won't."   
  
~  
It's summer, I can taste the salty sea  
There's a kite blowing out of control on the breeze  
I wonder what's gonna happen to you  
You wonder what has happened to me  
~  
  
"Why does someone have to close it?"  
  
"Because... Last time it opened... The monsters all got out... And not all monsters are so sane as Kuriboh... I think the light of this world... It makes them crazy... The things they can never have. They know they can't live in this world in peace so they set about destroying it..."  
  
"...Why can't they?"  
  
Yami smiled tiredly. "Because, Yugi... Light is a--well--it can be quite inconsiderate at times... Should have realized that, from the way it arrogantly floods around. More warlike than you'd think for it being the 'good' element..."   
  
"What on _earth_ are you talking about?"  
  
He sighed. "Just thinking too much, aibou, that's all..."  
  
//Yeah, you are.//  
  
//Not _now_...//  
  
"You mean the _world's_ going to end?!"  
  
"No, no! It won't come to that!"  
  
"How _won't_ it?"  
  
"The gate will be closed!"  
  
//Nice use of the passive tense,// Taru-chan said quietly. //But any second now, he's gonna ask--//  
  
"Who's going to close it?"  
  
"The same person who did last time." Yami fiddled with a twist-tie.   
  
"You mean, you. You closed it last time. And then you were sealed in the puzzle, right? But that can't happen again, you're _already_ trapped in the puzzle, pretty much. But why'd it happen in the first place? _Why are you so worried?_ "  
  
"Worried?"  
  
Yugi shot him a mild glare. "I'm not stupid... I can tell something's bothering you... Now if only I could figure out what..."  
  
~  
I'm a man  
I'm not a child  
A man who sees  
The shadow behind your eyes  
~  
  
//You've got to tell him sometime.//  
  
Yami sighed and gave in. "What's worrying me. What's worrying me is... That you'd be perfectly fine without me. That being fine in the end doesn't mean a lot of suffering won't come in the middle. That terrible things happen, even without dark magic running through the world. That I'll probably live forever. That forever would be an awfully long time to pass before seeing you again..."  
  
"What are you saying?" Yugi whispered.  
  
"I'm going to reseal the Shadow Realm. And when I do, all this magic and danger you've gotten used to somehow will no longer be there. No psychotic CEOs trying to ressurect their lost loves. No people wandering around without their souls. No one with any way to control your mind. No Shadow Games, no staking your soul, and no dark spirits."  
  
"Dark spirits--you mean--you--"  
  
"And all the others will disappear," Yami finished quietly.   
  
"But--_why_?" Yugi asked, wide-eyed.  
  
He laughed softly to himself. "You can't seal just part of the Shadow Realm. It's all or nothing. When it's sealed, every part of it is trapped within--until the magic begins to fade that seals it in. When the barriers are cracked, the energies within emerge. The pure energies come out first, if they wish... The cracks are so small nothing corporeal can leave. It takes years for the cracks to widen enough to release the monsters, and then the weakest ones leave first."  
  
"You're not part of the Shadow Realm!"  
  
Yami just looked at him sadly. No need to say it; Yugi would realize. Simple logic... If Yami's argument still stood, then Yugi's statement could not be true... So why say it out loud? Why waste this time? Why not just try to memorize this world now?  
  
~  
Who's to say where the wind will take you  
Who's to say what it is will break you  
I don't know  
Where the wind will blow  
~  
  
"But I thought you were a Pharaoh. You said you were alive."  
  
"I was."  
  
"But how--?"  
  
"Let's just say once upon a time there was a Pharaoh who knew the legends of the Shadow Realm... Whose firstborn child had fallen deathly ill. Let's just say that this man knew summoning spells... And that they were perfectly willing to trade one soul for another if it meant their baby would live. People, after all, are people..."  
  
He felt Yugi's stare and sighed. "When their baby was about to die, the king convinced his wife to let him call a dark spirit to possess it... He told her it meant her son would live. He didn't tell her he was doing it to assure Egypt's future. Who better to compete in the Shadow Realm than the soul of magic from it?"  
  
"You mean, that's why you were trapped. That's why you have so much power. That's why you didn't remember anything?" Yami nodded. "But what about the others?"  
  
"The same thing." He shrugged. "That one of Bakura's will hate me for this, I'll wager..."  
  
"Oh no." Yugi shook his head, suddenly warlike. "I'm not letting you leave me. I've been listening, you know, and I am _not_ letting you lock yourself in there again."  
  
"You think I'm doing this by _choice_?" Yami sat up, glare at the ready. "I've _seen_ what happens when the gates are unsealed like this! It wreaked absolute havoc on Egypt, and _we_ had protective spells! Metal or not, your cities today would end up even worse!"  
  
"Nothing's happening yet!" Yugi folded his arms.   
  
"That's because all that's wandering around out there are Kuribohs and Shining Friendships. Do you want to see what a Man-Eater Bug will do? A Change of Heart? A Blue-Eyes White Dragon?"  
  
"Maybe they won't hurt anything this time."  
  
"But they _will_, aibou, don't you see? And they have _reasons_."  
  
"I know. We can reason with them if they come out, then. Tell them not to destroy anything."  
  
"_They_ don't have much of a choice in the matter, either." Yami ground his teeth as he saw that nothing would change his mind. "Yugi, you'll be the first to go!"  
  
Yugi's head snapped up. "No I won't."  
  
"Oh yes you will. You and all your friends, all of the Light element and all who don't know any better. I've got to protect you, aibou. It's the will of the Puzzle and the will of my self. There's only one thing you need protecting from anymore... And even you can't stop me from protecting you from it." Yami glared at him, his own arms folded now.  
  
"I can't let you!" Yugi jumped up.   
  
"Why _not_?"  
  
"I'm not gonna lose you too!" Yugi ran to the door--blockaded it. "You're not going! I'm _not_ losing you! I am _not_ letting you go!"  
  
"Aibou, I can't always listen to you!" Yami rose in desperation... Then saddened. "But it doesn't matter... For how do you propose to stop me?"  
  
~  
Who's to know when the time has come around  
I don't want to see you cry  
I know that this is not goodbye  
~  
  
"Isn't it obvious?" Yugi tried to stare him down as he walked to the door.   
  
"I have to go now, Aibou..." Yami said, looking out the window at the rain.  
  
"NO."  
  
"It can't be forever, it just can't..."   
  
Lightning flashed outside the window.  
  
"I know I'll see you again."  
  
"YOU'RE NOT LEAVING!" Yugi screamed, trying to make it true.  
  
"I wish I didn't have to...But..." He finally looked away from the window, and their eyes met. "Aibou, I'm sorry, but I have to go. For you. For everyone. I'll never forget you... But please, aibou... Try to forget me..." He closed his eyes.  
  
"Forgive me, Yugi... Goodbye..."  
  
And with that, he simply went around Yugi and walked through the wall.  
  
Yugi just stood there for a moment, catching up with the timeline. Suddenly he threw the door open. "WAIT!" he screamed at Yami, who was halfway down the street. "WAIT! I--I--"  
  
Yami disappeared.  
  
"I..." Yugi whispered, and wondered what he'd planned to say afterward. Then again, he'd never planned on being there longer than Yami.   
  
"Rouh," his Kuriboh said, nudging him in the back, trying to get him to come in out of the rain. Yugi slipped down, sitting on the wet sidewalk, not even noticing.   
  
"What do I do _now_..."  
  
Taru-chan watched sadly from inside the doorway, clutching his bag of cookies tighter than ever. The clouds were getting darker.  
  
~  
Did I waste it  
Not so much I couldn't taste it  
Life should be fragrant  
Rooftop to the basement  
~  
  
Why did it feel so much like betraying him when it wasn't? he thought. Why did it feel wrong when he had no other choice? Yugi would be fine. He'd be perfectly fine, even flourish.  
  
//I wish I'd be there to see...//  
  
So much he hadn't told him, so much he hadn't done... All that time spent so frivolously... If only he'd known there was a limit... But he'd know now... Even if he had to forget everything else but Yugi in time, he'd remember that sweet things were precious... He'd remember that everything ended, almost, and you had to enjoy light when it was there...  
  
Would it ever be there again?  
  
Yugi would see plenty of darknesses, he was sure. //But will _we_ see _light_?//  
  
//Did I waste it?//  
  
But it was different now, he thought. Now there was Yugi. There hadn't been before; he hadn't _known_ Yugi before. Surely he'd remember. Surely they'd all remember. _Surely_ that would never be taken away.  
  
No, he'd destroy them all before he'd let himself forget.  
  
He finished the heptagon he'd been drawing on the ground. Simple, now that he remembered. The Items appeared, each at a vertex of the shape on the ground--all seven, just like that. Now that he remembered...  
  
He wouldn't be able to think during the spell... He knew that from experience. He looked around this familiar place, now ruins, darkened by the rain-clouds that were gathering near _every_ holy place.   
  
//One last time...//  
  
He burned the place into his memory, rain and all.  
  
//Farewell, Yugi... Farewell.//  
  
Surely he'd see him again...  
  
He began the spell.  
  
~  
  
"Yugi?" Sugoroku looked out the door. "Yugi! What are you doing out here in the rain?"  
  
He hustled him indoors, with quiet exclamations about colds and pneumonia and how Yugi should know better. "Dry off, now... What happened to the Puzzle?!"  
  
"I don't know..." Yugi put his hand around the cord. "Just disappeared..."  
  
"But what about the...?"  
  
He felt it like a sudden sharp pull at his heart, and he knew. "Gone..."  
  
"How? Why?!"  
  
"Saving the world, as usual. Grandpa, I'm tired..."  
  
"But what..." The old man knew when to let something go, and now was a time. "All right. But Yugi... Are you okay?"  
  
He thought about it for a moment. The connection he'd had with Yami was still there--just barely. Nothing you could send anything as complicated as thoughts across... Nothing you could send _anything_ through, really. It was just a link... Just the knowledge that they still were whatever they had been, even if they'd never see each other again. But it _hurt_... An ache in his heart... But it would fade a bit, and the grief and shock and anger would all pass.  
  
And he felt awful about it.  
  
"Yeah," he said. "I'll be okay."  
  
And it hurt to say it. It felt like it should be something that would never go away. But everything went away...  
  
/'...Try to forget me...'/  
  
And even though it broke his heart, he knew that to some extent, no matter now small, he would.  
  
"Actually, I'm not so tired as I thought I was. I think I'll go out." /This'll need some explaining./  
  
"... All right, but be careful. And I _do_ want to know what happened when you get back."  
  
"Okay. See you!" Yugi skipped out the door.  
  
Sugoroku stood there for a second and sighed. He was out of the loop, as usual. But Yugi was growing up... That was natural. Heartbreaking and natural.   
  
He sighed again and walked to the pantry. "...Where'd the cookies go?! I had a whole bag!!"  
  
On the way to Bakura's house, Yugi looked up at the sky. /It stopped raining,/ he noted absently.  
  
Looked like it would be a perfect afternoon...  
  
~ 


End file.
